What a wonderful time we had visiting the Open Studio of Joe King a.k.a. the Toon Guy. Joe King is a renowned cartoonist who's drawn the likes of SPEED RACER, TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLE, PEANUTS, STAR TREK, BARBIE, LOONEY TOONS. Dubbed as 'Cartoon Laureate & One-Man Comi-Con,' he most recently served as Artist-In-Residence at the Charles M. Schulz Museum. Chances are if you've watched Saturday morning cartoons, you've seen Joe's work.
Upon entering the Open Studio, you feel like you're walking into a toy museum, it's full of cartoon creations and animated objects that take you on a journey into the imagination of the Toon Guy. There were so many delightful creatures, each one had their own story and mostly, you could feel that they were very special, and indeed, they became muses for many of Joe's drawings.
Thus, we are truly honored that we are adopting some of Joe's muses - vintage, toy helmets that were given to him as a child by his grandparents. When he told us the story of how the helmets became his escape from a tough upbringing and that they transformed his reality into something wonderful, we knew that these stories should continue. We will be designing an original costume and character inspired by the helmets, and who knows, maybe a story for another book.
The use of the imagination to create one's reality is something very familiar to me and it is the most difficult of times that have often inspired me to write the most beautiful stories (in fact, our current project, The Ookleberry Tree, only came to be because I was bullied). And while going thru a hard time is not what anyone wants to go through, I've always believed that every experience has a purpose.
The best thing about the imagination is that it is endless...which means there are many stories to tell. Thank you so much to Joe King a.k.a. the Toon Guy!
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